spending rule? - Page 3

Agreed, but he is on a pretty tight budget, and losing weight. Right now, he can get away with a $15 belt.

 

That said, I see nothing wrong with spending a bit of money on a nice belt, but I wouldn't do it unless I was pretty set on the basics (a few pairs of shoes, a few suits, and enough shirts and ties).

Buy the best quality you can afford. It would help if you didn't try to purchase all the items on the same day. If you purchase high quality items, they should last you many years. Hence, a pair of shoes purchased today can be matched with a suit purchased 9 months from now. Brand names are not always a good indicator of quality, especially for department store quality items. A nicely tailored suit may look very much more expensive than it really is.

hermes man!!! yaaaay!!!

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tbh, i find no consistent ratio in the purchase price of different clothing items.

i think the best thing to do is buy what you like, what is good quality, what looks good on you, and what fits you, at a price you think is fair, or that you can afford. it doesnt really matter to me what the item is. on one day a suit could cost more than shoes, on another that could flip. same with a tie and a shirt, or pants and SC....

My spending rule: as long as I can afford, and I need it - I'd buy it.

lol my post was sarcasm

I limit my suits to less than $1000 and shirts for less than $200, if necessary.

with suits/shirts/trousers - nothing in excess of $5K

That's a pricey shirt. Kabazz?

In my opinion, suits, sportcoats, and shoes are the only clothing items that need to be expensive.

I would say there is a significant and noticeable decrease in quality in suits and sportcoats in the under 1K range. A decent suit with a high quality fabric is around 2K and up.

As for shoes, you get what you pay for. $300 seems to be the minimum to get a pair of shoes that both look nice and are comfortable. I tried going the sub-$300 route and bought a pair of Magnanni's, and they look terrible after a year, but they are still quite comfortable.

For everything else, there seems to be no good rule of thumb. I got some excellent shirts from Land's End recently and pants from J. Crew. $79 Cotton pants from J. Crew look and feel as good to me as $400 cotton pants from Incotex.

My spending:

 

Suit - 600 - 1000
Shoes - 200 - 500
Shirts - 60 - 120
Tie - 50 - 80
Handkerchiefs - 20 - 50

I spend most of money on ties and shoes. I feel that those two things can make or break your outfit. When it comes to a suit(or sports coat / pants) "fit" is the key.

 

 

 

Ties ->  $180 - $235

 

Shoes -> $600 - $800

 

Sportscoat -> no more than $500 (not including alterations)

 

Pants ->no more than $100 (not including alterations)

 

Shirts -> no more than $50....I really just care about the collar and sleeves ends

 

Socks -> no more than $15

 

Pocket Square -> no more than $15

 

Belt -> $80 - $350

Items I am willing to spend on are shoes/boots, suits, and outerwear. I really think there is no formula and it depends on your daily wear.

You can also allocate some of the funds by having tab pants and not have get belts, don't wear ties, and go sockless

What about suits? I guess no more than 1.5k (based on those given).

I won't address your other points as $3k suits are just out of my league right now. I can appreciate the cost, though. $200 for a tshirt, though? I'm really not sure how much good craftsmanship you can get out of a tshirt. That just strikes me as WEIRD!

Original poster:
I look at it this way. With ALL of those items, like everyone has said, fit is KING. A $200 mens warehouse suit that fits like a glove will look a lot better than a $3k suit that fits you poorly. On the other hand, cheap shoes will have a hard time looking nice after a few wears if they're not good quality - even if they fit perfect. I would say $200 (new) is the minimum pricepoint for shoes whether you're wearing a $600 suit or a $200 suit. From there, you would only NEED to spend more (of course, a lot of us WANT to) if you buy a suit with a noticeable quality increase. Price becomes less of an issue.

-J

 

 

I agree with the above as a reasonable framework.  I don't agree with ever resorting to polyester ties, particularly with a $1k suit.  Decent quality silk ties can be had for a good deal less than the sum designated above, and would be preferable to polyester in almost every case.  Heck, exceptional ties are available pretty much every day here on SF in the $40-60 range.

 

A few other random thoughts for the OP:

 

1)  Among gents who are otherwise well put-together, shoe seem to be the most consistently undervalued element.  I have seen very nice suit / shirt / tie ensembles paired with shoes that would have looked like cheap crap when brand new, but after several wearing with zero polishing, look like they belong in the garbage.  Please don't drop the ball here.  Get decent quality shoes and take care of them.

 

2) Watches are their own thing.  If you get into them in any kind of significant way, your perception of value relative to the rest of your wardrobe will be permanently and significantly skewed.  If you are remotely inclined along that path, my recommendation would be to flee while you can.  Just get something simple and inexpensive that doesn't look jarringly wrong with a suit.  Avoiding the gigantic wrist-clocks that dominate the horological landscape at present would be a good start.